High pressure head



April 1, 1941. F. K. FISCHER 2,237,029

HIGH PRESSURE HEAD l Filed April 9. 195e WITN ESSES'. INVENTOR WY vwd FREDERICK K. Fescnm ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 1, 1941 HIGH PRESSURE HEAD Frederick K. Fischer, Prospect Park, Pa., assigner to Westinghouse Electric t Manufacturing Company, East Pittsbu Pennsylvania rgh, Pa., a corporation of Application April 9, 1938, Serial No. 201,043

(Cl. 22B-55) 2 Claims.

My invention relates to closures for pressure vessels and more particularly to covers or closure members for high-pressure heads of heat exchange apparatus.

An object of my invention is the provision of a closure for high-pressure heads wherein both the internal pressure load and the sealing load are transmitted to a shearring.

A further object of my invention is the provision of a closure for high-pressure heads wherein both the internal pressure load and the sealing load are transmitted to a shear ring by bolts under compression.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a closure for a high-pressure head having sealing engagement with said head and an arrangement of bolts under compression for applying sealing pressure, the heads of the bolts being accessible at all times for adjustment of the sealing pressure.

These andother objects are effected by my invention as will be apparent from the following description and claims taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this application, in which:

Fig. 1 is alongitudinal sectional view of a portion of a tubular heat exchanger constructed inA accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is an end elevational view of the structure shown in Fig. 1 with a portion broken away for the sake of clearness; and,

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a portion of the structure of Fig. 1.

In the drawing there is shown a high-pressure head I in the form of a hollow cylindrical body provided at one end with a ange by which it is secured to a ange I2 of the shell I3 of a tubular heat exchanger, by suitable means, such as bolts I4. The shell I3 has an inlet I6. The tubes I1 have terminal portions secured in openings in the tube plate wall of the head in the usual way, andy extend longitudinally through the shell-to the reversehead (not shown) of the heat exchanger.' d V,

In the construction hereingiyllustrated, the heat exchanger is of the two-passif, type and the highpressure head I0 is provided with an inlet i3 for the admission of iiuid under high pressure and an outlet I3. -A partition 20 separates thel chamber into inlet and outlet sections. Preferably, the partition is welded to the tube plate wall of the head. The outer edge of the partition is received in a groove 24a in the cover 24, packing being provided in the bottom of the groove to prevent leakage around the partition. 'Ihe outer end of the cylindrical wall of the head I0 is counterbored at I9 to form the radially-extending shoulder or sealing surface 2|. A groove 22 isformed in the cylindrical wall of the counterbore I9 to provide a radially-extending thrust shoulder 23.`

Within the counterbore I9 and closely fitting the same is a relatively thick cover 24 having an inner circular portion 26 of reduced diameter loosely fitting the interior of the head I0. The cover has a radially-extending, inwardly-facing, circular sealing surface 2l cooperating with the opposed sealing surface 2| of the head to compress therebetween a gasket 28. Where conditions are suitable, the gasket maybe omitted and direct contact of the sealing surfaces 2| and 2'I relied upon for sealing.

A shear ring 3| closely fits in the groove 22 and abuts the thrust shoulder 23. To facilitate assembly of the shear ring 3| in the groove 22, the former is divided into a plurality of segments or shear pieces, for example, 33, 34, 35,

36, 31, and 38. As shown in Fig. 2, shear pieces 33, 34, and 35 are of similar shape, being segments of the annular thrust ring with radial edges. Each of the shear pieces 36 and 3l has one radial edge and th other edge is such that the remaining shear piece 38 may have parallel edges.

Between the inner radial face of the shear ring 3| and the opposde outer radial face 29 of the cover 24, there is disposed an annular pressure member 32 having a plurality 'of threaded holes 40 `extending therethrough parallel to the longitudinal axis oi' the head I0. Bolts 4I are provided having their threaded portions rotatably Ireceived'in the threaded holes 40 with their points contacting the outer face 29 of the cover. The shear ring 3| is provided with a plurality of holes 46 aligned with the threaded holes 40 in the pressure ring 32 and through which the bolts 4| freely extend, whereby the bolt heads are accessible at all times for tightening or loosening thereof.

A retaining ring 42 is aligned radially with the shear ring 3| with the outer periphery of the former closely abutting the inner periphery of Ithe lat-ter to positively prevent displacement of the shear pieces 23, 34, '35, 38, 31 and 38. The outer end of the cover is formed with stepped portions 44 and 43 of lesser diameter than the cover and providing annular recesses 46 and 4'l for reception 'oi the pressure ring 32 and the retaining ring 42 respectively. Movement of the retaining ring 42 in a direction transversely of the head III is limited by the annular stepped portion 44 on Pressure applied lto the inner face of the cover 24 will be transmitted .to the bolts 4I and by compression of the latter to the pressure ring 32, which will distribute the pressure uniformly to the various pieces or segments of the shear ring 3| and thence to lthe thrust shoulder 23 of the head III. Due .to the accessibility of the bolts 4I, they can be adjusted at any time, even during operation of the heat exchanger, to vary the sealing pressure on the gasket 28. It shouldbe noted that all of the load is transmitted by the bolts in compression in contr-ast to the com-mon practice of loading the bolts in tension.

While I have shown my invention in but one f-orm, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof, and I desire,

therefore, 'that only such limitations shall be placed thereupon as are imposed by the prior art or as are specifically set vforth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus of the character described comprising a hollow, pressure-sustaining body member having a sealing surface and a thrust shoulder, a cover having a sealing surface, a sectional shear ring abutting the thrust shoulder, a pressure ring located between the cover and the shear ring, and abutting the latter, and bolts threadedly mounted in the pressure ring and cooperating with the cover for transmitting pressure uniformly from the latter to the former, said sectional shear ring being provided with passages therethrough aligned with said bolts and through which the heads of said bolts extend for adjustment thereof at lall times from exteriorly of the body member to vary the sealing pressure on the sealing surfaces.

2, Apparatus of the character described cornprising a body member including an annular wall portion having an interior outwardly-facing sealing surface and a bore extending from said surface to the outer end of the wall portion, said wall portion having an annular groove opening into FREDERICK K. Fuser-1ER. 

